Elderly Drivers and Their Alarming Risks for Florida Car Accidents

We all know that there are many elderly drivers out there on South Florida roadways. We’ve got to deal with vacationers, snowbirds, retirees and even our own family members. While we might want them to just get off of the road, it’s important that we’re not contributing to the carnage.

According to the most recent statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), elderly individuals (those over the age of 64) accounted for more than 15 percent of all traffic fatalities in the U.S. in 2011. Throughout the year, there were more than 5,400 of our elderly residents killed in traffic accidents. In addition to these fatalities, there were close to 200,000 people who were injured in motor vehicle accidents. These are numbers that have decreased by about 2 percent in recent years. But at the same time Americans overall are driving less. So no one can be sure if this decrease is the result of better driving habits and more proactive preventative measures, or just the simple fact that we weren’t out there on our roadways facing the risks for a collision.

Our Palm City car accident lawyers understand that the safety of our elderly drivers ultimately takes a team effort. That’s why it’s important to make sure that we’re keeping an eye on our elderly loved ones and making sure that they’re not only fit to be behind the wheel, but that they’re safe while they’re there.

There were 35 million licensed older drivers in 2011. That’s a more than 20 percent increase from 2002. In contrast, the total number of licensed drivers increased by only 9 percent from 2002 to 2011. Older drivers made up 16 percent of all licensed drivers in 2011, compared with 15 percent in 2002

The good news about these drivers is that they had the lowest proportion of drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

If you’re looking to help out the elderly driver in your family, your best bet is to make sure that they’re paying attending during the daytime on weekdays. This is when these accidents were most likely to happen. More than 75 percent of these accidents happened in the daytime and more than 70 percent happened on weekdays.

In the state of Florida, there were close to 2,400 people who were killed in traffic accidents in 2011. Of these people, more than 400 of them were between the ages of 55 and 69, while nearly 400 were over the age of 70. As you would imagine, we were ranked as one of the most dangerous states in the country for these kinds of accidents. But we can help to put an end to that by looking over to our elderly family members to make sure that their abilities are up to the task of driving. It’s a move that could end up saving their lives.If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a car accident, call Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez — 1-800-561-7777 for a free consultation to discuss your rights.